What a fine, fine way to spend the day
Still more to be grateful for:
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The Sixties are dead
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No one expects me to rake leaves
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Camp — 3 summers of
perfecting my make-out technique
horses and other wholesome fun |
Mom let that soldier pick her up on the trolley
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kansas Discovers the Blue Dot
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The Blue Dot Discovers kansas
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Sappy or snarky or both, what’s your list?
Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe from earlier)
Busy Cafe this morning, Andy.
Great to see your pics and the captions.
Be good everyone, serious weekend coming up. (Just have to finish a few more, annoying hours in the office first.)
and that you have plenty of time to enjoy being with the asklets.
Not too serious. Serious, as being more than 2 days – and I’m taking off Friday. Yay.
Good to see so many people in holiday mood. In my background, Thanksgiving is not part of the tradition, but I happily stand by to cheer.
Two hours to go, seems they’ll let us out at 3 today.
Well, I’m not really working. I should just give it up!
Thursday December 1st: Inexpensive Holiday Gifts
why you haven’t been hosting the cafe until now, oh witty and picturesque one? I love the photos!
Um. Sorry. CabinGirl! Great to see you!!
Just saw your comment on Arlo in the other cafe. Great concerts of your youth would be a fun theme some Saturday.
Yes! That’s a great idea. If we could remember them….
Hey, it’s your short term memory that goes — you’ll still remember every joint you smoked (I might be projecting here) long after they put you in the Home.
I remember all the concerts I went to, including the first (and actually worst) in 1964 — the Beatles.
Are you making fun of my cooking? (sniff)
</spiderleaf impersonation>
I was confused.
What with Cabin the younger helping make the cranberry chutney and thinking I was ruining it by putting in onions and celery, I guess I’m just a little (sniff!) sensitive (sniff!) today…
Because most of the time, I really do have to work but nobody does anything at the real office today so I knew I could slough off a lot.
And I’m really, really lazy.
And thanks for the compliment.
Just chiming in on the picture love. Captions on the last two should net you some FBC Make With The Funny award.
Andi, That picture of the Sixties you looks just as I expect people to look.
What’s wrong with it? You look great!
What year was it?
that I’m glad are gone — I mean Jim could shine in the dark and I am wearing a tablecloth that appears to have escaped from a Halloween party.
Yeah but – those dark shirts and light ties came back…
My first wedding – my husband and his two brothers looked like bad Mafia pictures with dark suits, dark shirts and light ties! It still makes me laugh!
I wish that I could see the pics, but our industrial strength filters here at work take them out. Oh well, I’ll see them at home on my pitiful dial up connection. 😉
thinks my pictures are dirty? Or it just thinks pictures in general are dirty? And why does it have such a dirty mind?
Don’t worry about the dial-up — I’m on one too so I’m not putting up any gigantic images.
I work (but do not live) in a Repug-dominated county. Who can say what the filter is thinking? Perhaps it recognizes your images as the product of “blue” activity. 😉
I’ll be gone for a couple hours. Be good and don’t tear the place up.
Damn, I have to leave now, too. I’m missing my chance to wreck the place.
I am so proud of those photos! I preen, since I consider myself to be the First Disciple, or possibly even John the Baptist to the Blue Dot, having introduced it to a grateful world. Of course, John knew who he was introducing. I was a little confused on the day the Blue Dot was baptized.
Kansas, you just made me laugh so hard I nearly choked.
Which would have been very bad, as you have not yet baptized me into the Church of the Blue Dot, so I would’ve had to spend eternity with some other deity, perchance like Flying Spaghetti Monster, and frankly, his noodly appendages creep me out just a little bit.
All you gotta do is put up with some harassment from the Blue Dot or her earthly
manifestation and you’re in. So you’ve been a disciple in good standing for awhile now.
Good to know. I’m really not as careful with the salvation of my eternal soul as I probably should be. But being able to tithe with snark ought to help things.
some allusions from the Judeo side of Judeo-Christian so the Blue Dot fully understands them. And the Blue Dot assures you that she has never been baptized, though she did once step into a baked over a muddle puddle in a Utah canyon and break her leg but that doesn’t seem to apply.
And anyway, the Blue Dot has actually always thought of you as her Judith (as painted by Klimt).
Judith always reminds me of Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes.
I just have always liked klimt’s.
But I like her version as well. Have you read “Artemisia” by Alexandra Lapierre? It’s excellent — it’s a combination of fiction and biography.
I have not read Lapierre. I did a paper on Gentileschi for an art history course in college, though, and read a thorough account of her rape trial (perhaps in Mary Garrard’s book), which was absolutely horrific.
I usually wouldn’t say “her rape trial” considering she was the victim, but really, if you have read it, it is the only way to talk about the trial. The trial was so clearly more about Artemisia than Agostino Tassi, the man she said raped her (who was also an already convicted rapist, iirc). They tortured her hands on the stand while she was testifying. Her hands. I remember being profoundly affected when I learned that the exact same cadre of “I didn’t rape her, she’s a slut” defenses were used then as now.
Klimt’s Judith reminds me of Nagel, but don’t tell any real artists I said that.
Yeah, today they just go for virtual thumbscrews.
(Why am I still at work, by the way?)
1. James Joyce
2. William Faulkner
3. Virginia Woolf
4. Once again, my well-behaved cat
Just for chuckles…I was age 7 and brother was 9.
He was pretty cool for a big brother until we reached teenage years…
I actually still like him…now that I live 800 miles away!
So I’ll be thankful for my big brother today – teaching me to climb trees, whittle, drive a Tonka Jeep, and all that other cool stuff.
my older sister and I got along great after we had grown up…and I lived in Hawaii and she in NY!
Good Morning or afternoon. It’s nearing afternoon even here on the left coast. I got up early but….
Then I saw Gooserock and my m-i-l off on a trip to Oregon to visit the brother. Yes. I am staying home. I have a doggy (Toto-2) who is not up to par and is too old to be stressed much. He hates riding in the car….trembles and pants terribly….and gets stressed if we leave him in a kennel….and then I get stressed. 13.5 years is too old for that.
Plus, I was dreading being around all that wonderful food and not being able to eat ANY of it. I’m hanging onto my wild diet no matter what. I’ve lost 21 lbs since Labor Day. It just has to be helping the cholesterol….doesn’t it?? Please??
So, I have the house to myself for most of 4 days!! I can’t remember the last time that happened.
I’ve turned all the thermostats down to 65, my comfort level.
I ate a full portion of oatmeal with raisins and spices and oat bran added instead of only half a portion. That’s my splurge. I think I’ll buy a garden burger for Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll have to read the fat content first.
Well, time to walk the Totos and get some mail ready to go.
Great first cafe, Andi. I read all the way through it before coming here. It was already closed by the time I signed on. Loved the pics…as usual.
See you all later.
That is really impressive. I don’t want to lead you astray but I think you deserve a small splurge on T’day.
I just got back from the health food grocery in town. I’m splurging on fat-free, cholesterol-free vegetarian hot dogs. And the real splurge is a garden burger. It has 4 gm of fat per burger. I generally don’t buy anything with more than 2.5 gm of fat per serving.
Also bought some smokey tempeh strips….”Fakin’ Bacon”. Does anyone know….does it have to be cooked? Or can I just eat it right out of the package if I find it edible?
tempeh readily absorbs marinades and sauces and is dense enough to be grilled. If it is frozen, slice before it is completely thawed to keep if from crumbling. The recipes either grill it in the broiler or saute it in a skillet.
THANKS!!! I’ll pretend the Fakin’ Bacon is real bacon.
Just got a call from Gooserock. He and Florida Mom made it to central Oregon just fine. Now I can relax until Saturday when they come home.
Finally got the spouse off the computer so I could get in…now I’ve got to keep bugging him to chill the wine for tomorrow…
As I mentioned last night, my Bean Soup was a smashing success! Here’s the recipe for those who wanted it; will make a great change of pace next week when the family’s tired of turkey leftovers:
Bean & Sausage Soup
1-1/2 cups navy or Great Northern beans
2 cups water
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1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup finely diced celery (approx. 2 ribs)
3 links cooked smoked sausage (I used Gehrhard's smoked chicken and turkey sausage from Trader Joe's, but Polish sausage or something similar would work well) -- approx. 3/5 of a pound
1/2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning or to taste
1 large can (46oz.) chicken broth (I used the Swanson's 100% fat-free & low-sodium broth)
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1 serving frozen mashed potatoes (8 pieces)
1 cup milk
Rinse beans and pick out damaged ones; soak overnight in the 2 cups water.
Slice 2 of the sausages into thin slices; cut other sausage into quarters lengthwise and finely chop. Put beans into slow cooker; add carrots, celery, sausage and Italian seasoning, and mix gently. Pour chicken broth over mixture in slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 7-1/2 to 9 hours.
Within last 1/2 hour of cooking time, place the frozen mashed potatoes into a blender. Ladle about 2 cups of hot soup into blender; puree. Add pureed soup back to slow-cooker. Add milk, then cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.
Makes about 6 servings — like most soups, will probably be even better as leftovers.
Enjoy! 🙂
Have a great day, everyone…
Now I really need to go find something to eat!
That sounds so yummy – copied already and emailed home! I’m thinking Turkey Kielbasa for the sausage…
Yum!
Had to pop in just long enough to say thanks for this! I’m definitely going to try it soon.
humor…it’s the only thing keeping me this side of sanity.
don’t diss on the sixties – that dress she’s wearing is dope!
Just a quick drop in here to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am off to my sister’s for four days in Las Vegas. SHe usually hosts it every year and it is a great time always. My son and his family drove up yesterday, another sis flew in from DC too. My neice and her husband, my ex and myself all fly in at different times today. Poor planning on our part. Poor sis has to make three trips to airport today. It will be great to get away for the holiday.
I wanted to let all of you know how grateful I am for your friendship, your insight and the love you all send out. This is a very unique community and I sure hope it stays that way. Love you all!
Have a safe trip and a fun time in Vegas. Enjoy your family!
Thank you my friend. You do the same!
in Vegas…wave “Hi” to my money while you’re there (a bit of it stayed behind to party the last time I was there…).
Sounds like fun…Safe journey!
getting all kind of google hits from people looking for recipes for thanksgiving. We’re number 4 for popcorn stuffing.
is through his stomach….maybe the way to a woman’s politics is through recipes!
How’s the packing going?
my house is a mess. It’s messing with my chi.
We’ll all send hugs and positive energy to help balance out the chaos around you…
{{{{BooMan}}}}
I have only seen one. People keep talking about making this and that but then they don’t post the recipe.
I think there is a conspiracy to keep these recipes secret!
we got recipes (including your diary). You’ll have to browse throught the diaries to find each reciped since they are in comments.
Froggy Bottom Cafe: Talkin’ Turkey Today
Froggy Bottom Café: Sweet Tooth Friday
Froggy Bottom Cafe: Side Dish Friday!
Food and Class in America: a Rantata
Puget4’s Cranberry Relish
Cooking Cheap with Hope and Love – by Diane
Damn girl you are fast!
You not only sneak back into the cafe when I turn my back, you have the links up while I’m still looking for them!
Welcome back….
because you knew the links were all in one place — I had to go find the diary where katiebird did them.
Chocolate Pecan Crostata
Turn the fire on in your oven, not too hot.
Wipe a cake pan with melted butter
Put chocolate wafers in a baggie and stomp on them until they are crumbs.
Melt a little Luker brand chocolate in a small sauce pan with some cream and sugar until it is liquid and tastes right. Add the crumbs a bit at the time, the result should still be liquidy. Pour it into the buttered cake pan and put it somewhere.
Now melt some more chocolate and cream, add about a half a cup of brown sugar, a couple of eggs, some vanilla, about half a cup of corn syrup and a couple of cups of pecan pieces.
Pour all that into the cake pan with the crust in it, put it in the oven for about half an hour.
Take it out and let it cool.
Melt some more chocolate, cream and sugar to make a sauce. Use a spoon to drip it on top of the crostata to make designs.
Talking Turkey FBC
It has links to desserts and side dishes….
of another idea for Thursday — along with sharing Thanksgiving stories, how about recipes to use up all those leftovers?
I’ll post my Curried Chicken Rice Salad recipe again there — it probably would work well with turkey. In fact, Fresh Choice used to have a New Delhi Turkey salad that was absolutely yummy — I should start a petition to bring it back…
We (well mister) always makes turkey hash. I love it.
Great idea, Cali. Will do tomorrow.
LOL!!!! The world-famous Hardin & Weaver Traditional Thanksgiving Popcorn Stuffing strikes again!!!
That’s pretty cool.
Sorry about the packing thing. It does suck; I was just saying to someone this morning that the easiest move I ever made was the one where I didn’t get to take any of my stuff with me. Which of course, sucked another way…but I digress.
Hope you have a nice day tomorrow.
Not that I am suggesting you tell the story but I did want to point out that it is logically impossible to digress in the cafe.
you guy had fun while I was gone. NO FAIR!
There are Cats:
There are Flowers:
There are Mountains:
And there are mountain sunsets:
And me, I get to photograph ALL of `em.
It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.
Great photos. Where are those volcanoes and where were you when you took it?
The sunset is Volcan Cotopaxi, in the Ecuadoran Andes; it was shot from a space just off the Pana near Latacunga.
The aerial shot is somewhere in the northern Andes, somewhere reasonably close to the Ecuador/Colombia border. I was in a 737 climbing out of Quito, I have no idea where we were relative to the lines on the map.
Lazy and Deceitful Black Forest Cake
Go to the store and buy a plain chocolate pound cake, some whipped cream in a can, and a can of sour cherry pie filling, some cream and some Luker brand chocolate.
Go back home and put some chocolate and cream in a small sauce pan, add some sugar when it melts.
Cut the pound cake two times all the way from side to side to make 3 layers. Put the top two layers somewhere.
Heat up the cherry pie filling and put half of it on the bottom layer. Put the top layer on top of that and dribble chocolate sauce on it. Let it sink in. Put the other half of the pie filling on top, and put the top layer on. Dribble just a little chocolate sauce on it.
Squirt whipped cream all over the whole thing, smooth it out with a knife.
Make designs on the top with chocolate sauce and let it sit somewhere cool for a while.
You can tell people that you bought it at a fancy bakery, or that you made it all yourself from scratch, which ever will please you more.
I personally like buying the grocery store bakery cookies and putting them in a pretty basket with a fancy napkin to take to the party…
I REALLY love it when my SiL shows up with the plastic bucket of pre-cut fruit from the grocery store as her contribution to a meal… 🙂
This sounds so delicious and such a cheater’s way of doing things….which fits me just right.
I love your cooking terms like: “go back home” and “put it somewhere.” I think you and I cook the same way, which is by handfuls and pinches and til it tastes right. I never write anything down and it drives my daughter crazy because she wants me to make her a book of my recipes. So I’ve been trying to make my old standbys and really keep track of how much of everything I am putting in so I can write them all down for her.
Those parts made me laugh, too. Cheating, eating, and laughing. What could be better?
I love this recipe!
Fun and giggles – when I share recipes with a few select friends I always include the name of the person that gave it too me. It will be fun to share these with a great friend that doesn’t like to cook – and she’ll instantly ask about your name!
Blog ID’s are soooo much fun – my spouse doesn’t even ask now when I talk and mention names like Ductape and Infidel Pig and CabinGirl and KatieBird……and others in the day’s blogs! He does roll his eyes once in awhile!
I know what you mean, at first I’d say my friend __ and mister would say, who? But now, he totally accepts it.
Thanks to my delightful(??) friends this is a great quiz for killing time while waiting for the Turkey to get done.
Which Harry Potter character are you?
You scored as Albus Dumbledore. Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering.
My Percentages I had to tweak the formatting to get this here – it doesn’t copy and paste cleanly
Albus Dumbledore 100%
Remus Lupin 90%
Severus Snape 85%
Hermione Granger 75%
Ron Weasley 75%
Harry Potter 75%
Ginny Weasley 70%
Sirius Black 30%
Draco Malfoy 30%
Lord Voldemort 15%
This should create some interesting conversations with family members!
/s/troublemaker
You scored as Severus Snape.
Well you’re a tricky one aren’t you? Nobody quite has you figured out and you’d probably prefer it stayed that way. That said you are a formidable force by anyone’s reckoning, but there is certainly more to you than a frosty exterior and a bitter temper.
Since I’m not a Harry Potter fan I have no idea who most of these people are, but the synopsis is frightening in it’s accuracy. 🙂
is forever ruined! or perhaps it’s solidified….hmmm
🙂
Who the heck is Serverus Snape? From looking at the rest of ya’ll’s results he seems to be waaaaay down on the list. Maybe I should retake the test so you won’t be afraid of me. I mean with my frosty exterior and all.
Mine was a tie!
Albus Dumbledore 85%
Hermione Granger 85%
Remus Lupin 80%
Harry Potter 75%
Ginny Weasley 60%
Sirius Black 55%
Draco Malfoy 55%
Ron Weasley 40%
Severus Snape 35%
Lord Voldemort 20%
Harry Potter 90%
Albus Dumbledore 70%
Hermione Granger 65%
Ron Weasley 60%
Sirius Black 55%
Remus Lupin 55%
Lord Voldemort 50%
Draco Malfoy 50%
Severus Snape 45%
Ginny Weasley 35%
It is if you’d like to star in a series of movies and make a substantial salary doing so (Harry Potter and the Blog of Booman).
“You can be a little reckless and hot-headed at times, but a more brave and courageous friend would be hard to find.”
Sounds good to me.
I, on the other hand, am a little worried about being a cross between Hermione and Dumbledore…
Another Dumbledore here — wonder if progressives would be more like Dumbledore, and if the Bush misAdministration would be more like Voldemort… 🙂
You scored as Harry Potter. You can be a little reckless and hot-headed at times, but a more brave and courageous friend would be hard to find.
Harry Potter 80%
Albus Dumbledore 75%
Ginny Weasley 65%
Severus Snape 65%
Hermione Granger 60%
Remus Lupin 50%
Draco Malfoy 50%
Sirius Black 45%
Ron Weasley 45%
Lord Voldemort 10%
I am Sirius Black: “You are a gifted wizard and very loyal to your allegiance. Whilst you have a big heart and care very much about those around you, you can be a little arrogant and reckless at times.
.
Hermione Granger 70%
Remus Lupin 70%
Albus Dumbledore 65%
Severus Snape 65%
Draco Malfoy 65%
Ron Weasley 60%
Ginny Weasley 60%
Harry Potter 55%
Lord Voldemort 30%
30% Voldemort?! Ah, the source of your snark.
I’m Harry, followed by Remus and Dumbledore, but I’m 5% less Harry than Boo is, which makes a strange kind of sense to me.
to get the significance of most of the breakdown but I do know that valdemort is the big, bad booger — is he snarky, too? I thought the source of my snark was my 70% Hermione who also probably accounts for a large portion of my slightly obsessive, anal-retentive, very stubborn ways.
Albus Dumbledore 70%
Hermione Granger 70%
Which I think is weird — wishy-washy.
I even had to fill out a tie breaking question.
Makes sense to me, kb. They’re both superb magicians, very intuitive, leaders, truth tellers. Some people think Hermoine will grow up to be the first female Dumbledore.
So there.
Obviously, someone has read the fifth and sixth books…
Well I won’t argue. The Weasleys were the next with Ginny/50% & Ron/45% — And I’m sure that’s the family thing.
And (cough) (gentle throat clearing) What were your results.
hmmmm?
Same here, but 85% Dumbledore and 85% Hermione…and no little description like everybody else got…hmmph.
That is cool – and I can picture BooMan as Harry Potter…cute, kind of shy, smart, kind, and a reluctant but solid leader.
Now that I’ve created all that mischief we are leaving for our 6+ hours on the CA Interstates 80 & 5!
Aaaaaaargh!
Have a great Thanksgiving – I’ll try to check in to Friday’s FBC – no where dialup permitting! (Last time it was less than 14k connection).
Instant Mezcal Shrimp
Put a pan on the fire and let it get hot. Put in some olive oil and some butter. When it melts and starts to bubble a little, throw in some peeled shrimp and chopped garlic and a few cumin seeds and a little ginger.
Stir it around until the shrimp are almost turned pink. Pour in some mezcal. Steam will puff up and it will make noise. Do not attempt to stop this. After that has happened, stir the shrimp around. The shrimp will finish pinkening and the mezcal will evaporate in about a minute. Put some salt and pepper on them and put them into a dish or on a plate, either by themselves or with rice or couscous. Pour whatever juice is left in the pan on top and decorate it with parsley or cilantro or chives or whatever green leafy thing happens to be present.
and opening this one.
Yebeg Wot
You will need some berbere, if you can’t get any, you will have to make it.
Get a dish, and put a pinch of each of these:
ginger
cardamon
coriander
allspice
nutmeg
fenugreek
cloves
cinnamon
add another pinch of ginger
Put a pan on the fire, and dump it all in. cook it gently, so the spices darken but do not burn. After a few minutes, add about a cup of African cayenne pepper, half a cup of paprika, and a few pinches of salt and black pepper. Stir it around and let it slowly roast for about ten more minutes. Take it off the fire and when it is cool put it in a jar.
Now put a big pot of water on the fire and hard boil 8 or 10 eggs.
Cut up a few onions. Non-sectarian Sufi chop.
Put another big pot on the fire and throw in the cut up onions, let them cook a few minutes, just dry. Keep stirring them so they don’t scorch. When they change color a little bit and get soft, put 3 or 4 lumps of butter and 3 or 4 big spoons of your berebere in and stir that around.
In another pot, brown cubes of lamb on all sides in a little butter, then throw it into the pot with the onions and berbere. Put in some water, let it cook a while, until the lamb is tender.
Remember to take the shells off your hardboiled eggs before you throw them whole into the yebeg wot and serve it with naan or pita if you do not have any injera.